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The present invention relates to backpacks. In particular, the present invention relates to a backpack for use in holding and transporting clothing, miscellaneous equipment, and various gear for outdoor recreation or other activity wherein a need exists for a device which can be used comfortably to haul a range of lesser or greater and varying loads. The use of backpacks is known and widely established. An example of a xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d backpack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,873 to Schweitzer. The variety and extent of backpacks extend from small and lightweight daypacks such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,166 to Leja, to larger and heavier duty backpacks such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,188 to Gleason. While there are many exceptional and useful backpacks in the prior art, it is in general a fact that they are fairly uniform in their individual purposes. For example, it wouldn""t be practical to use a small daypack to haul a tent, food, sleeping bag, and related gear on a camping trip, just as it is impractical to use a large and bulky expeditionary backpack for a picnic outing. Yet there are activities in which it is desirable to have a single backpack, which is generally compact, but which has the built-in potential to carry a large load of cargo. In the example of the activity of game hunting, there is a common desire to carry a small and compact daypack for a day""s outing in order to facilitate quiet and sleek movement through the woods, as well as to minimize the weight being carried. Once game is acquired, however, a small daypack is not typically suited to the carriage of quantities of meat. Where large game is involved, a hunter will often make a first return trip with a light load to the base vehicle or camp, and then will go back with a larger freight frame or large backpack to carry the bulk of the meat out. In an ideal situation, the hunter would have a backpack that was versatile enough to be carried in a compact form for the active hunting portion of the outing, but then could be expanded or enlarged to carry a good portion of meat out on the first return to the camp.
There are diverse examples in the prior art of backpacks which are devised for the carriage of meat, and others that alter configuration or load volume in some fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,333 to Tucker, et al. discloses a meat carrying backpack, but it can be seen that it doesn""t fulfill the need of a simple daypack for hunting. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,619 to Boyar, the prior art contains examples of backpacks which are devised to be transformed into existence from out of another form, in this case a purse, but this clearly wouldn""t be suitable for the purpose described herein. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,382 to Wyant, an expansion gusset is disclosed, which is an example of a means of expanding the volumetric carrying capacity of a specific compartment within a backpack. In this case, however, the change in dimension that is affected is not significant enough to be of use to a hunter faced with transporting large game.
Other designs exist which comprise efforts to have a backpack with a flexible load carrying volume. Some are fitted with laced drawstrings or adjustable straps which can compress the cargo space of a pack into its most diminished form. These are excellent in their place, and some may be of use to the hunter, but nonetheless it is generally true that these backpacks do not significantly alter their form, and do not significantly have the capacity to increase their volume. If they are large enough to be of use in hauling meat, they typically do not compress sufficiently to have the look, feel, and compact shape of a daypack.
While backpacks similar to those in the prior art have somewhat fulfilled the transportation and storage requirements of outdoorsmen to date, there exists a need to have backpacks which have better and more convenient deployable additional storage capacity, and offer a greater range of versatility than prior art backpacks. In particular, with a greater and more widely prevalent emphasis on adventure, personal fitness, and personal mobility, many hunters and outdoorsmen are traveling great distances on their feet. In the example of a hunter, there is an incumbent need to make the first return trip from a successful downing of game useful in terms of hauling as much meat as possible from a potentially remote location. It is submitted that the present invention substantially meets these needs.
The backpack of the present invention is devised such that it can be used in a smaller and more compact form, or expanded into a form with greater volume and load capacity. In the specific example of hunting, a user will depart for a day""s outing with the basic necessities for the compass of the outing stored in the primary storage compartments of said backpack, and when subsequently game is acquired the backpack can be deployed into its expanded form, wherein it retains full use of the basic storage in the aforementioned primary compartments, and has the additional storage capacity of a newly exposed supplemental storage compartment for the hauling of meat. In an alternative example, the pack can be used in its expanded form to travel with a full complement of camping or traveling gear, which can be subsequently downloaded, thereby allowing the pack to be transformed into its compacted form for use in shorter side-outings.
More particularly, the backpack of the present invention includes a releasable vertical division between two primary storage compartments that, when released, allows the two primary storage compartments to pivot and rotate outwardly about the axis of their attachment to the main panel of the backpack, in thus doing exposing a collapsible supplemental storage compartment which can then be expanded and utilized. The backpack is fully functional and convenient for use in either its compacted or expanded embodiments. In particular, the central dorsal releasable attachment is generally kept in the closed position, thereby keeping the backpack in its compacted form, but when released permits the backpack to be expanded into its larger form. In a preferred embodiment, the supplemental storage compartment is constructed of a heavy duty, lightweight nylon or similar fabric, so that when it is folded it becomes nearly flat, and is of minimal thickness, thereby relieving the backpack of any undue bulk when it is in its compacted form. Preferably, the supplemental storage compartment is fixedly attached to the front portion of the main panel of said backpack, as well as to the inward edge of the back panel of said primary storage compartments, adjacent to and inward from the releasable mechanism, thereby forming an integral unit when the backpack is utilized in its expanded form. Alternatively, the supplemental storage compartment may be removably attached to the aforesaid portions of the main panel and primary storage compartments, thereby permitting use of the backpack without the supplemental storage compartment or with a different load attached in its place, and it can be seen that this does not substantially alter the scope of this invention.
The expandable backpack according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus which functions well as a small daypack of the prior art, but which can readily be converted into a backpack with greatly increased volume and carrying capacity. There exists a need to move about unencumbered while carrying a backpack of lesser size and volume, but which can be readily transformed into a more voluminous form. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfils this need.